


One on One

by Merfilly



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-07
Updated: 2007-02-07
Packaged: 2017-12-05 21:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dinah doesn't get boosted out of Gorilla City, and Slade learns her weakness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One on One

"Oracle! Mace couldn't grab her, but he got the heart…she tossed it when the apes grabbed her," Honey told their boss. "He couldn't make another swipe."

The redhead stared at the computer in disbelief. "Copy that, Honey…get back here. I'll come up with a new plan."

`~`~`~`~`

"I really can't believe you just…yes I can. It's you," the blonde griped. "They probably killed her, you know," she added.

"Her problem, Canary. Save your breath for the terrain," her companion growled.

"Save my breath…like I don't already owe you for saving my ass, you have to go and lecture…MMMPH!!" She grew violently still as he covered her mouth, coming up behind her and pulling her into denser foliage. Slade was acutely aware of their surroundings, listening as a patrol passed entirely too near for his peace of mind.

When he was sure it was gone, he slowly released his companion…and found that she was murmuring mantras under her breath, eyes closed, nostrils flaring.

"Black Canary?"

"Fine, Wilson. Let's move." She refused to acknowledge the fact he had caught her in a full blown moment of fear, so he chose to file it away for later.

`~`~`~`~`

A day's full hike had not gotten them any closer to civilization, and Slade could see the fatigue in Canary as clearly as he knew the night was too dark for her to not hinder him more than she already did. Which, he noted charitably, had not been that much; she was one tough soldier.

"Rest here. Move with the light," he said. 

"Good idea, Wilson." She moved toward the largest tree and inspected it, before putting her back to it. 

"You're going to want to dry your socks at the very least, air any skin you can without undue exposure," he told her. "Any luck on those gadgets of yours?"

"Not picking anything up…think they got fried in the fight." She slid her boots and gloves off, keeping everything close as he came to sit near. She accepted the small wafer of condensed travel rations, sipping a tiny bit of the water they were splitting from a canteen she had swiped on their exit from Gorilla City.

"If I need to silence you, because I hear something," Slade began.

"Touch my shoulder first, if you can." She did not offer an explanation.

"Understood."

`~`~`~`~`

The light filtering down on them roused Slade first. He glanced over at the blonde, and noted she was laying in as defensive a posture as a woman could get. However, she had done as he suggested, and opened her costume at throat, wrists, and ankles, trusting the small device he had turned on to repel animals and insects.

It let him see deep, old rope brands at her wrists very clearly.

"Black Canary. Time to get moving." He purposefully turned away; she did not need to be set on edge first thing this morning, when they had an unknown distance to continue.

"Hmm…Wilson." She shifted, getting ready to go again. "Remind me to go to a zoo and be thankful most gorillas are of the non-talkative nasty sort." 

"I have other coping mechanisms." He said it in a neutral voice, but he caught her grin his way.

"Uh huh." She shifted through a quick set of stretches, showing him again just how flexible that body armor of hers was. It was not made to stop a lot of damage, but then he already knew she did not stay still long enough to take much either.

"Let's go," he said when she bounced closer to him.

`~`~`~`~`

He was trying to ignore the occasional signs of panic in her eyes as he brought his knife to bear. A run in with a predator had forced her off a small rise…and right into a cluster of closely growing vines that had gotten tangled around her.

"Talk to me, Dinah Lance," he began, seeing the effort she was using to control raw impulses. His use of her proper name had some effect; she shivered and focused her eyes on him, not the knife.

"Wasn't watching my step…helluva drop right there," she made herself say, but this time he knew it for bravado.

"Helpful, though…I have my bearings, and I believe we'll find a village tomorrow." He felt her tense all over as he had to turn the knife flat against her arm to get under a vine that was too tight.

"Good," she whispered.

"Want to talk about this?" Slade had seen traumatic disorders; Canary did not fit the pattern, until he had startled her, and now this entrapment.

"Old business." She flinched as he freed her other arm and knelt to get her legs.

"Scars seem fresh, the way you're acting now."

She took a deep breath. "Suppose I can…you know the weakness; might as well know the reason," she said, falling into a wooden voice of recital, as if mentioning something she had heard. "Ever hear of the Seattle Slasher?"

"Vaguely," he answered, sawing carefully at the vine trapping her right foot. 

"I was the last one he caught," she whispered. "Sometimes…rope or just being caught off guard…definitely knives…"

He stood, sliding his knife away to take her hand and pull her out of her memories. "We relive the worst events, and give them power that way, Canary." She glanced at him, closing her fingers around his as he helped her, and nodded slowly.

"Thank you, Wilson," she murmured. 

"Makes the time go by to have someone sniping at me verbally." He smiled at her, and they set off again.

`~`~`~`~`

Barbara wheeled herself to the edge of the bathroom, knocking lightly. Dinah giggled and was grinning at her from very deep bubble bath when she entered with the requested chocolate shake.

"So, why did Deathstroke take you with him?" 

Dinah shrugged prettily, eyes hiding something shared in the jungle that would never hit a briefing.

"Maybe he just hoped my comm. gear would work. After that, I was stubborn enough to follow."

"Makes sense."

//More than the idea that he wanted the company.// Dinah would never admit that, or that she had learned just how gray some people really were.


End file.
